Faye The Not Quite Ghost
by penofjade
Summary: Faye, the girl who died...and yet lived...See what happens when she meets her mothers almosthusband of years before...Who shall win THIS battle of wills, I wonder?
1. Introduction

Disclaimer!!! I do not own Beetlejuice or any of its affiliates...I DO own Faye, so leave her alone, oaky?? If you wish to use her, ask me first...

The curtain comes up and we see a rather short young girl of nine staring into the distance in a glazed manner. Four other people are with her in the room. Two standing solidly on the floor, the other two hovering in a most interesting way next to them.

The two that are floating are floating in an upset manner, as though the conversation were not to their liking. Of the two that are solid, one, the man, is quite a bit older than the other, a woman. We have discovered that he is the woman's father, and the girl's grandfather. He too seems to be a little upset. Let us listen in as the conversation continues.

"Lydia, I told you this wasn't a good idea, " said the woman from her floating position.

"Barbara," replied the girl's mother, "she asked and I said that I wouldn't tell her until she asked. She needs to know this now, so that she can try to grasp it."

A small voice speaks up and in soft whisper says, "I . . . died?"

Many years have passed since that rather interesting evening. The young girl is now a young lady getting ready to leave home and enter college. Things haven't been quite the same since that night. Faye, for that's her name, has had many things to get used to. Barbara Maitland, the lady ghost of the house, still doesn't agree with how and when Lydia told Faye about the "experience" but they've managed to let bygones be bygones. Faye insisted.

You see, when the Maitland's died, they received a book entitled _The Handbook for the Recently Deceased_. Faye didn't have it quite that easy. You see, she died when she was two. Her heart stopped beating and her lungs had even deflated. Her mother and grandparents were frantic. Suddenly, the baby opened her eyes as if nothing had happened. And before she had even taken a breath she had smiled and said, "Momma!"

Not long after this remarkable happening, an old woman appeared to them. She explained that Faye's death had been a mistake, but that it hadn't been caught until her spirit had already detached itself partially from her body. They'd been able to keep it from detaching totally, which would have been instant death. Unfortunately, there would be repercussions. Faye would have certain "abilities" that would begin to show up when she turned seven or eight. Things like walking through walls, floating when asleep, and, later, one of Faye's favorites, having the ability to change cloths instantly.

Sure enough, as the years went by, strange things started to happen. Lydia would go into her daughter's room in the morning, only to find her still sleeping daughter levitating a good eight inches off the bed. That, however, was only the beginning. After the night when Faye finally broached her question, she had been rather withdrawn and quite. By nature, Faye was flamboyant and flashy. She realized, just as her mother and the Maitland's did, that she would never be able to have a "normal" life. She was different even before hitting puberty.

She started keeping more and more to herself. The old woman from earlier came by to see them and Lydia expressed her fear that Faye was slowly going to stop living. The woman, Juno, agreed and offered to give her something to do at her place of work. That was how Faye got a job in the Netherworld. There she worked with children and young people who had passed away and didn't have anyone to help them understand the manual.

And that's what Faye did to keep from thinking too deeply about her own problems. She would sit in her office as child after child after child entered and exited. These were to have been the next generation and they were in post-life counseling. Faye found irony in that. Some people just wouldn't die, some wouldn't have the chance to live, and then there where others that just wouldn't stay dead...

"Who shall I view today," came a raspy voice from the depths of an old, thoroughly worn arm chair. A hand appeared and waved in the direction of a large mirror hanging, rather lopsidedly, on the opposite wall.

Image after image flickered by until they stopped with an abrupt halt. "What have we here?" came the same voice. There staring back at him, was a small face with bright green eyes. Curly brown hair framed it and glasses perched on her nose. "Um um," muttered the voice from the arm chair. "What have we here?" it repeated.

Suddenly the woman got an annoyed expression on her face and waved her fingers in front of the mirror. She vanished. "What! How'd she do that?" came the voice, this time disgruntled. The man who had been sitting in the chair was now standing in front of the blank mirror. He turned and his wispy tangled blond hair stuck out at odd angles. "This one I should check up on," he muttered. His blue-green eyes shone and a not-quite friendly smile appeared on his face.

And that's how the "Ghost with the Most" first became aware of the "Ghost Who Is Not Quite Dead."


	2. Asking Questions

Another disclaimer...same as the first...don't own any of Tim Burton's characters, but Faye and her friends are mine. Thank you:D

"I hate it when people mirror gaze," the young woman grumbled as she hurried out of her room and down the stairs. She had just enough time for breakfast before she left for work. Because of her odd work schedule, she took her college classes over the internet. Having people suddenly start staring through her mirror, however, was enough to set her off about privacy and the lack of it.

"What was that, Faye?" came a voice above her head. She glanced up and saw Barbara's husband, Adam hovering in mid air next to the second floor bannister.

"Oh, nothing Uncle Adam, just another pervert staring through mirrors," was her reply as she headed down the hallway to the kitchen.

Upon entering, she was greeted with her mother and her aunt Barbara. Lydia was sitting at the table and Barbara was hovering near the window. They all greeted each other and Faye set about fixing her lunch. One of the bad things about working in the Netherworld, Faye had decided, was the lack of edible foods. She may have been half ghost, but that didn't make bugs or other such things any more likely to enter her mouth. No, good old ham and cheese sandwich for her. She stuck in a piece of apple pie, too, knowing that it'd probably all be gone before she got back otherwise.

After finishing with her lunch preparation, she ate her breakfast quickly. When she had finished, she said goodbye to her mother and to her aunt, heading back out into the hallway and towards the stairs. Instead of walking up them, she twirled her fingers and disappeared. She popped back into her room to get her purse and a few other things and then, once again twirling her fingers, disappeared.

The next time she dissolved into solid matter, she was in a room with several windows on one side. Whereas most of the offices in the counseling department were dingy and delapidated, hers was another story altogether. Her walls were painted with swirling greens and blues and purples and reds. Children who walked, or as was the case with some of them, floated into her office, were instantly enthralled by the colors, making them slightly less nervous and afraid, compared to before. Juno just shook her head at the colors, and others grumbled about them, but, due to the fact that most ghosts couldn't come close to rivaling her in power, she just smiled, some said smirked, and kept her walls just the way they were.

This particular morning, she had only been in her office a few minutes when Juno appeared, looking slightly worried. Another good indicator of her worry was the fact that smoke was pouring in billows from her neck, where a gash was very much visible. "Juno, do you mind?" asked Faye, as the smoke almost immediately enveloped the room. "You may be dead already, but I still have to deal with such things as lung cancer."

Juno merely waved her hand, causing the smoke to disappear. "Thank you," said Faye, glancing down at the stack of papers on her desk. It didn't matter how long she was gone, every time she showed back up, there was pile to rival the Empire State Building. Faye sighed.

"I won't keep you long, but I felt the need to warn you," said Juno, taking a seat in front of Faye's desk. "There's someone asking a lot of questions about you and you need to prepared to handle whatever comes of it."

Faye cocked her head, not sure if it was really Juno sitting in front of her. Juno never beat around the bush like this. "Who is it?" she asked, sitting back and cracking her knuckles.

Juno sighed and rubbed her neck, causing the gash there to move more then it should, in Faye's opinion. "It's . . . him,"answered Juno, obviously expecting Faye to comprehend.

"Juno, I know a lot of 'hims', could you be more specific please. A name would be nice," said Faye, crossing her legs.

"NO," said Juno, "that is one thing you most definitely do not want to know." Faye assumed she meant the name.

"Why?" asked Faye, curious despite herself.

"Because, if you say his name three times, then he can get out of this world, and that is something that NOBODY wants. Just ask your family," Juno replied, twitching her fingers.

Faye, who knew that Juno REALLY wanted a cigarette, sighed and said, "You can smoke, just so long as you don't let the smoke in here." Juno hurriedly pulled out a cigarette and started puffing away. Faye thought back to what her boss had said about her family. When it sank in who she was talking, or rather, not talking about, Faye sat bolt upright and stared at Juno. "Wait a minute - HE is asking questions about me? Why?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Juno replied, taking a long drag on her much smaller cigarette. "He started asking just a little while ago, so we can assume that he just recently found out about you."

Faye snapped her fingers, "That's who that was this morning," she said.

"Who?" asked Juno, a little lost.

"I caught someone mirror-gazing this morning - couldn't figure out who it was..." answered Faye, lapsing into silence. "Why do you think he wants to know about me?" she asked, when she returned from where ever she had gone off to.

"I'm not sure. I can only assume it has something to do with the fact that you're Lydia's daughter," answered Juno, finishing her cigarette.

"So, in other words, keep my eyes open and powers at the ready, huh?" asked Faye, giving a cocky smile.

"Exactly," replied Juno. "Oh," she said as she stood up, "one more thing. I can't tell you his name, and I'm sure none of your family has told you, but he goes by the title of 'Ghost with the Most'. If you hear that, watch out. And do not, I repeat, do not, say his name. If you say it that third time, you'll have heck to pay," and with that, the old lady vanished, leaving Faye alone in her color swirled office, thinking about a ghost whose name she was forbidden to say.

"So 'Ghost with the Most', huh? Sounds like fun," with that she got back to going through that days files, a funny little smirk on her face.


	3. That's MY Smile!

Disclaimer: I don't own BJ, or Lydia, or Juno, or any of the other original Tim Burton characters. I do, however, own Faye, and her friends, so leave them be, please...Thank you :D Please enjoy this, the third chapter to the this fanfic 

A ghost with wispy blond hair and bright green eyes sat at his little table and listened as the "Bones Brothers" played another "bone-rattlin'" song. Ghosts and ghouls of all sorts swirled around him. He, however, was waiting and watching for one person in particular - Lydia Deitz's daughter. He couldn't remember her name, he just knew he was looking for a head of curly brown hair and a still beating heart.

He thought it was ironic that the Dietz girls kid was part ghost, sort of evened the score just a little, even if he'd had nothing to do with it. He'd heard that Friday nights, she'd come to this particular spot with some friends from the department.

As the band started yet another song, he saw said head walking through the crowd. When the crowd parted however, he was taken aback. He had been expecting someone who looked a little like Lydia - white, almost pallid skin, dark clothing, haunted look. Instead, he was greeted with one of the most vivacious looking people he'd ever seen, dead or alive. He sat there, slightly stunned, and watched her walk towards a table not that far from his own.

He overheard her voice, though not what she was saying. She'd evidently said something funny, though, because everyone around her started cracking up. He turned slightly so that he could see her slightly better. She was wearing a pair of black leather pants with a bright green halter top. Over the top she had on a little black jacket with spider wed embellishments. Her earrings were spider webs as well. Her love of spider webs wasn't the only thing she did have in common with her mother, however. Her eyes were outlined in green and her lips were a startling black. She had evidently been taught how to use makeup by her mother.

He couldn't help himself, she was entrancing. Her mother had been interesting and a usable tool, but here was someone who, by all accounts, would pit her powers against anybody else's. She was almost nothing like her mother, except for the most important thing: she knew ghosts.

The man with the wispy blond hair smirked to himself as he drained the last of his glass, "This should be fun," he muttered to himself as he stood up and walked towards her, fun indeed.

Faye couldn't help snorting at something Jazzy had said. Her attention had been wandering that night, and she didn't want to make her friends feel as though she was ignoring them, so she tuned in every once in a while and made a comment, or in this case, a noise. The band was blaring out another song and the dance floor was swarming with people, some with skin and some without.

Maybe dancing'll help me concentrate, she thought. So, turning to her friends, she jumped back into the conversation. As soon as they reached a low spot, she suggested a dance and three of the five agreed. The other two had been on their feet all day, running things to and fro, so they decided to stay and hold the table.

Faye, Jazzy, and Rain, another friend, hurried into the maze of bodies and started right into the beat. Before long, they each had a partner, and were having a blast. The head banging songs were just what Faye had needed. Unfortunately, the songs switched to slow and Faye, a little disappointed, headed back towards her table. Jazzy and Rain both had found friends, so they stayed. Faye, however, not about to let a slimy handed ghoul get that close, was more than happy to sit them out.

Someone else, however, seemed to have different ideas. She felt her arm get caught in someone's hand, and she turned ready to demure. She found herself staring into green eyes with wisps of blond hair floating in the way. Her instincts told her immediately to watch herself for there was something different about him.

He smiled a particularly cat-like smile and her back bristled even more. That was HER smile, how dare someone else us it in her presence! She proceeded to expertly extract her arm from his grasp and, turning, continued on her way back to her table. As she walked away, she could have sworn she heard him laugh, a low, amused chuckle that only made her back bristle more. If she had been a cat, her whole back would have been arched, all the hair standing on end, with teeth bared. It was enough to make her spit. Nobody laughed at her! He would be made to pay!


	4. Now You Know

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from Beetlejuice...sadly, they belong to Tim Burton...sigh...

A.N.: Sorry about the wait...hope it was worth it:D In this chapter, Faye is alerted to the fact that she has now come in contact with BJ. . .What shall happen next?

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He kept chuckling as she walked away, knowing that it ticked her off. He didn't know how he knew, but he wasn't about to argue with a way to get her mad. When people got mad, they tended to lose their rational side, and that was just what he wanted. He wanted her to lose control so that he could see how powerful she really was. That was one question he hadn't been able to find a solid answer to - how strong was she really? No one could tell him. So, what do you do when you can't find out by asking questions? You go to the source itself and find out! And that was exactly what he planned to do.

Her mother had foiled his plan to get out of the Netherworld years before. He thought it only fair that he got to play around a little with her precious daughter. Fun, fun, fun, indeed, he thought to himself, as he watched her take her seat and commence to talk with the two people sitting there.

He smirked and faded back into the crowd, leaving her be for the time being, knowing that before long he'd figure out a way to check her power level, and when that happened, she wasn't going to be able to get away that easily.

What he didn't realize was the fact that the girl's power level was alarmingly close to his own and growing closer every day.

He had used her smile against her! It was the morning after the event and Faye was still thinking about how much she hated whoever that ghost had been. If she could figure out who he was, she would love to make his after-life a living hell!

She didn't even bother walking down the stairs, she was so upset. She'd probably just burn them down or something... And if she knew one thing, her mother and the rest of her family, both living and dead, would then want to know what was bothering her. Best to avoid the whole situation altogether, she decided as she popped into the kitchen.

She was up early enough that none of the rest of the family was in the kitchen yet. For that, she was grateful. She got together her lunch for the day and flicked her finger at the refrigerator, depositing a note there for her mother.

A few seconds later, she was inside her office, staring at a new stack of folders containing all the possible information on her youthful clients. Not a one of them was over two feet thick. . . She couldn't help but sigh as she sat down.

She felt her coming before she saw her. Juno seated herself on the edge of Faye's desk and puffed quietly away on one of her countless cigarettes. She just sat. . .and stared. Faye was a little disconcerted. Juno never just sat and stared. Faye hadn't even been sure that that was possible.

A few timeless seconds passed with Juno staring at Faye and Faye gazing back somewhat unsure. Finally, Juno spoke. "You met him." That was all she said, and it took Faye a moment to process the fact that she had spoken and that she had mentioned meeting someone.

"What?" Faye asked, unsure of who she meant.

"HIM," stated Juno, taking a long draw on her cigarette, the smoke slipping out of the gash on her neck.

Faye thought for a split second before her mind snapped to the day before. The conversation and the blond ghost merged together and Faye gave a start. "That was HIM?!" she shrieked.

Juno nodded, silent once again as she drew another noxious breath.

Faye's mind wove through all the moments of their quick encounter and could at that point read into several of the emotions she had seen behind his cat-like eyes. She was caught. That had been the ghost who had nearly married her mother. He had almost destroyed the world that she still inhabited half of the time. Her grandparents had been in jeopardy. Her aunt and uncle had almost been exorcized because of him!

She wished at that moment, sitting in her soothing office, that she blasted him hard enough to send in back to his own century, whenever that had been! Juno just kept looking at her.

"Now you know," said her boss after a few more minutes of tension-filled quiet. "Be careful. He knows who you are and no one can say what he might do or is truly capable of."

With that, she was gone and Faye was left alone to contemplate how horrible she could make his afterlife if he made one wrong move! Her mother had no true power against him. . .Faye, however, had plenty!


End file.
